Community Associations

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What are the different types of association meetings? How do you know what type of meeting to have? Community associations have board meetings and member meetings; knowing the difference and scheduling the right meeting is critical.

Board Meetings for Community Associations

At board meetings, the board of trustees conducts its business. The board may have working sessions, executive sessions, and open sessions. At an open board meeting, the board may vote to approve contracts, adopt rules and regulations, or make other binding decisions for the association. All binding decisions of the board must be made at an open board meeting, however, for confidential matters the decisions must be approved without disclosing confidences.

Continue Reading What Are the Different Types of Community Association Meetings?

Community associations by and large rely on the efforts of volunteer board members to ensure their success. These individuals play a critical role in shaping the direction and priorities of the organization, and in ensuring that it remains accountable and responsive to its members. But what does it mean to be a volunteer board member for a community association, and what are some of the key responsibilities and challenges that come with this role?…

Continue Reading To Volunteer or Not: The Role of Community Association Board Members

Assessments are the lifeblood of any condominium or homeowners association. To run properly, community associations must maintain strong financials. Associations must ensure that unit owners pay their assessments on time and in full and that any delinquencies that arise are handled by a community association collection lawyer who can employ the most effective strategies for getting optimal results. These are the top 5 reasons community associations need an attorney that specializes in collections for condominium and homeowner associations:…

Continue Reading 5 Reasons Community Associations Need an Attorney That Specializes in Collections

In our modern world we take our ability to communicate seamlessly and instantly for granted. We communicate through more services and devices than ever before. Our options are vast: Facebook, Twitter, SMS text messaging, WhatsApp, email, traditional mail, cell phones, and even landline telephones. But what if those channels of communication, or the primary channels we rely upon, are disrupted by a natural or man-made disaster? Is your community association prepared for those circumstances? Do you have primary and secondary lines of communications established in your community association? If you are starting to feel concerned, that’s okay, because many community associations and small businesses are not prepared and do not have procedures in place for maintaining communications during a crisis. But the time to act is now. Implementing a Disaster Communication Plan can dramatically improve a community association’s response and handling of an emergency situation.…

Continue Reading What is a Disaster Communication Plan?

Life can change in a matter of moments. As my mother always says: “An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.” Benjamin Franklin may also have been known to utter the phrase once or twice, but still, I’ll give credit to my mom. Preparation is key whether you’re talking to your child about an upcoming exam, a deposition, or the operations of a community association. A community association’s board of trustees has a duty to protect the community by ensuring the safety and well-being of its residents, which includes a wide range of responsibilities, from maintaining the common areas, enforcing community rules and regulations, to protecting the association from damage, whether by natural or manmade forces, and ensuring disrupted services are promptly returned to operation. Taking steps once disaster strikes is too late. Community associations need to plan in advance and establish protocols for responding to disasters before, during, and after to mitigate against damage, lessen the impact on the community, and expeditiously return to full operations following a disaster or temporary disruption of services.…

Continue Reading What is a Disaster Preparedness Plan?

Effective July 1, 2022, the New Jersey Supreme Court has increased the jurisdictional limits in civil courts. The New Jersey Special Civil Part jurisdictional limit has increased from $15,000 to $20,000. The jurisdictional limit for New Jersey Small Claims Court has also increased from $3,000 to $5,000.

This increase will prove extremely beneficial to Community…

Assemblyman Gary S. Schaer of New Jersey’s 36th District introduced a proposed bill, A.B. 1075, that would require all commercial liability insurance policies issued in New Jersey to include “faulty workmanship” within the definition of “occurrence.”
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Continue Reading Proposed Bill Would Require All Commercial Liability Insurance Policies Issued In New Jersey to Specify Coverage For “Faulty Workmanship”

Eminent domain, sometimes referred to as condemnation, occurs when the government exercises its power to take private property for public use. When this awesome power is exercised, the government must pay the property owner “just compensation” for the property taken, as required by the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
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Continue Reading Eminent Domain Issues Affecting New Jersey Condominiums – Can the Government Really Take Part of Our Common Elements?

The collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, in June 2021, sent shockwaves throughout the United States and was a wake-up call to condominiums to the dangers of aging infrastructures. In light of this tragic event, secondary mortgage market giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have issued bulletins advising of new “temporary” requirements for mortgages issued in connection with condominiums and cooperatives.
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Continue Reading In the Wake of the Surfside Tragedy Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Issue “Temporary” Requirements for Condominiums and Cooperatives

On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, Governor Murphy signed into law Senate Bill 396, which automatically tolls (i.e. pauses) the 6-year Statute of Limitations for construction defect claims by condominium and/or homeowner associations and cooperative corporations until the first election when unit owners take majority control of the association board (“Transition”). Although not black letter law, Transition had historically been recognized as the milestone when the Statute of Limitations began to run for construction defect claims.
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Continue Reading New Bill Clarifies Statute of Limitations For Community Association Transition Litigation Matters